Velocipede.



PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

N. H. PEPPLER.

PATEN'IED AUG. 11, 1908.

N. H. PEPPLER.

VELOCIPEDE.

APPLIOATION FILED OUT. 21, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

'N. H. PEPPLER.

VELOGIPEDE.

APPLIOATIOE FILED 00w. 21, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Nol 895,675. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

- N. H. PEPPLER.

VELOGIPEDE,

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21, 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

wi/lww/weo 9 z Q 5 wuc wloz NELSON H. PEPPLER, or NEW roan, vN. Y. vnnoorrana.

No. seams,

Specification ofLetterl ream Patent edAugu 11, ms.

Application filed October 91, 1907. Serial No. 898,474.

. Velocipedes, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a velocipede embodying my invention; Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are details of the mechanism illustrated in Fig,- 1;=Fig. 5 illustrates another embodimentof-my invention, and'Figs. 6, .7 and 8 are diagrammatic views of other embodiments of that feature of my invention for overcoming the dead center. a The object of my invention has been to provide a velocipede to resemble a running ors'e or other running animal so that a child maysit upon the horse and travel over the round, and the sensation of riding a real horse be. quite accurately reproduced; and to such ends my invention consists in the velocipede hereinafter specified.

The particular 0b 'ects of my invention havebeen: first, to produce a velocipede of theclass referred to which shall be easy to propel by the avoidance'of all dead centers; second, to provide a convenient steering deavice whichgis operated by reins in the same manner asa horse is guided and third, to attain'such simplicity that the velocipede is thoroughly practical.

In that form of my invention illustrated in Figs..1 to 4, I provide a frame consisting of reach bars 10 that carry at their forward ends 7 a head-11 having within it a vertical bearing, and at their. rearward ends bearings 12 havinga horizontal axle. A stem 13 is mounted in thebearing 11, and carries at its lower end a fork 141m which is journaled a steering1 wheel 15, much in the same manner as with a b cycle.

wheels 1'2. -Braces 18 and 19 rise from the front and rear ends of the reach bars and support atransverse horizontal bearing 20, in whichis mounted a pin 21. of the horse is pivoted upon the pin 21, the

.- said body being preferably supported upon .rups26, which are, in the present form of my a -frame23. pivoted upon the saidpin. frame 23 is connected by a connecting rod 24 with a crank 25. formed on the rear axle 16. The feet of therider are supported upon .stir- A rear axle 16. is mounted in the. bearings 12 and has fixed upon its outer ends.-

.The body 22.

invention, hung from the'pivot pin 21', thesaid stirrups being formed of rigldmaterial such as steel bars. Connectlng rods 27 con nect the lower portion of'the stirrup's-26 with a second crank 28 also formed-onthe rear H sits upon the horse with his feet'in the stirrups, The rider rocks his body forward and back, in imitation of the motion inriding an actual horse, and at the same time causesa swinging motion of the stirru s. The shift-' ing weight of the rider along t 1e horse causes the body of the horse to oscillate upon the" pivot 21, through the-connecting rod 24, to

o elthe it? turn the. cranked rear axle and veloci ede. If, however, the cran 25 stops on a ead center, that is, if the crank and its connecting 'rod tend to stop in line with each other, the forward and backward pressure upon the stirrup from the riders feet'will act u on the crank 28,- the latter being preferf a 1y set at a different angle. from the crank 25, and will throw the crank 25 off the dead 3 each other, or a single crank can be substicenter. The two-cranks can be in line with tuted for the two if desired," since the con necting rods 24 and 27 operate fromdifferent directions. 1

In order to steer the velocipede'it is only necessary to pull-one rein or the other when the worm will berevolved in one direction or p the other, the opposite ends of the reins being oppositely wound-upon their respective pulleys, and the front wheel Will be turned through the action of the worm on'the-worm H While this arrangement"provides a very convenient means of steering,- the front wheel.

wheel cannot turn except through the action" of the reins," because the worm will prevent the worm wheel from turningm ill In that, form of my invention which is trated in-Fig. 5, there. area real and a false stirrup. -The realstlrrupconsists of a bar- 35 which is'pivoted atapoint-to the'rear of the pivot 21 either upon the frame 23, or, a's H M I prefer, uponthe brace :19 The barexof the-rider on the stirrup tends to swing the real stirrup into a vertical line and therefore exerts a horizontal pressure upon the connecting rod, while in the form in Figs. 1 to 4, the rider can only exert a forward or back pressure upon the stirrup and his weight is not of assistance to him.

It will be observed that I have provided a comparatively simple velocipede by which a very realistic imitation of actually riding a horse can be secured.

. It is obvious that various changes can be made in the above-described construction which will be within the scope of my invention; for instance, the crank shaft instead of directly carrying the driving wheels can be crank shaft.

geared toa shaft which carries the driving wheels, either by tooth gearing or sprocket gearing, so that the rear wheels may revolve more than once for a single revolution of the Other forms of connection between-the stirrups and the crank shaft can be provided for the purpose of preventing a.

dead center.

In Figs. 6,7 and 8 are illustrated diagrammatically other embodiments of that feature r rom the horse to the crank shaft.

of my invention'for overcoming the dead center. In Fig. 6 the horse body is represented by the line 28 and itsfulcrum by the oint 29. A connecting rod 30 extends The pedal 31 swings from a fixed pivot 32 on the frame and has a connecting rod 33 connected between the pivot and pedal with the crank shaft. The two cranks are preferably 45 degrees apart. I

. InFig. 7 the horse body is represented by the line 34 and swings on a pivot 35 and as befor'e 'has aconnecting rod 36 extending to the crank shaft. The stirrup 37 is pivoted .to thehorse body, and at an intermediate point between the foot-rest and the horse ody has a connecting rod 38. The cranks are here shown as at 90 degrees. In this construction ,the lifting of the horse body carries upward with it the treadle, and lifts the pivot 39 between the connecting rod" 38 and the stirrup so that the connecting rod 38 rises bodily with the horse body and thus helps to avoid a dead center. 'Likewise'when the rear end of the body goes below the horizontal, it'carries the pivot 39 down below the center so'that again the avoidance. of a dead center is helped by the swinging of the horse body.

In Fig. 8 the line 40 swinging on the pivot 41 again represents the horse body, and a rod. 42 connects the horse body with the crank shaft. The treadle 43 swings on a fixed pivot 44, and above said pivot is a pivot 45 connecting it with a connecting rod 46 extending to the crank shaft.

. I claim:

1. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal pivoted thereon, a connecting rod pivoted to said animal, a crank driven by said connecting rod, said crank being connected to a wheel on the frame, and a device for overcoming the dead center of said crank.

2. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal pivoted thereon, a connecting rod pivoted to said animal, a crank driven by said connecting rod, said crank being connected 'to a wheel on the frame, and a device operated by a movement substantially transverse to the movement of said crank for overcoming the dead center of said crank.

3. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal pivoted upon said frame, a connecting rod driven by the oscillation of said animal, a crank to which said connecting rod is pivoted, said crank being connected to a wheel of said frame, stirrups, and a connection between said stirrups and said crank for overcoming the dead center of the latter.

4. Ina velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal whose body is pivoted thereon, a connecting rod pivoted to the body of said animal, a crank to which said connecting rod is pivoted, PlVOI/GdlStIII'UPS, and a connecting rod attached at one end to saidstirrups and connected at its opposite end to said crank to overcome its dead center.

wheeled frame, an animal whose body is pivoted thereon, a connecting rod pivoted to said body, a crank connected to said wheels and having said connecting rod pivoted thereto, stirrups pivoted at a point above the axis of said crank and to the rear of the pivot of said body, and a connection between said stirrups and said crank for overcoming dead centers.

6. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal whose body is pivoted thereon, a'connecting rod and crank, the former being pivoted to the body and the latter connected with a wheel of said frame, and stirrups so connected with said crank .that the weight of the rider upon said stirrups shall overcome the dead center of the crank.

7. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal whose bodyis pivoted on said frame, a connecting rod and 5. In a velocipede, the combination of crank, said rod being pivoted to the body and said crank being connected to a wheel of said frame, a real stirrup pivoted at the rear of the pivot of the body and above the axis of the crank, and a false stirrup connected with the real stirrup and the body of the animal at a point substantially above the footrest of the stirrup.

8. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled fame, an animal whose body is pivoted on said frame, a connecting rod and crank, said rod being pivoted to the body and said crank being connected to a wheel of said frame, a real stirrup pivoted at the rear of the pivot of the body and above the axis of the crank, and a false stirrup connected with the real stirrup and the body of the animal at a point substantially above the footrest of the stirrup, said'false stirrup-consisting of two bars slidably connected together.

9. In a vehicle, the combination of a wheeled frame, steering means, gearing for driving the wheels, which gearing has a dead center, and means independent of said steering means and independent of said gearing for overcoming the dead center.

10. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal whose body is pivoted thereon, a connection between the animal and the wheels for driving the latter,

which connection has a dead center, stirrups, and a connection between the stirrups and the wheels for overcoming the dead center.

11. In a velocipede, the combination of a wheeled frame, an animal whose body is piv- I oted thereon, a connection between the body and the wheels for driving the latter, said connection having a dead center, and stirrups so connected with said crank that the weight of the rider upon said stirrups shall overcome by the oscillation of said body, stirrups and independent gearing for driving the wheels from said stn'rups.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

NELSON H. PEPPLER.

Witnesses:

EDWIN J. PRINDLE, A. NEWCOMB. 

